Here is the Moderated VIP geek/chat transcripts for the session which was held on Saturday, 6/3/00 at 6:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time, California, USA) Our VIP was Alan Stein, CEO of Z Media at http://www.zmedia.com

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Steve_Shubitz/Admin
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Steve_Shubitz/Admin
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Steve_Shubitz/Admin
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Steve_Shubitz/Admin
OK lets get started. I'm going to switch the room to Moderator mode. This means that when you send questions or comments at the appropriate time, they will only be seen by the Moderators and VIP. We will follow this procedure:

Moderator Steve_S: Asks Alan a question
VIP/Alan answers this question
Moderator asks Members, any questions on this?
Moderator posts member question to room
VIP/Alan answers member questions
Note: Please insure that your question pertains to the current topic. After all appropriate member questions are answered, we move on to the next question for Alan and follow this same procedure. Please insure that you Nickname is your ** real name **. One moment please while I turn on Moderator mode.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(1) Moderator: Alan, could you please give us a summary of what your company is about?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Z Media is an provider of online marketing services; primarily a service known as 'subscriber acquisition.' Online publishers of email newsletters come to us to help them grow their subscriber base. In turn, we establish relationships with affiliates to help us provide this service.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Memeber Kyle questions: do you primarily only work with large companies? How much do you generally charge the "Online Publishers of e-mail newsletter"?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Hi Kyle. On the client side, yes; most of our clients pay us fees in excess of $10,000 per month. On the affiliate side, we're interested in all sizes, though especially those that can earn at least $500 per month.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Arn Kim question: how much do you generally charge the Online Publishers of email newsletters?...answered in previous VIP responce

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Arn Kim question: Do you provide subscriber acquisision for smaller webmasters or simply large companies?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Hi Arn: our rates per subscriber vary based on several factors, such as popularity of the list, number of lists the client promotes with us, payment structure (uniques vs. non), legacy pricing, etc. Current clientele pay anywhere from $0.40 to $0.90 per unique subscriber; most are at the lower end at this time. I hope you'll forgive me if I do not convert that into fees per checkmark :-)

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Sorry if I type a bit too slowly :-O

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(2) Moderator: Alan, What type of sites are you looking to work with?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
We seek affiliates that are able to deliver substantial traffic to our website, or to our other promotional devices, tell-a-friend and syndicated checkboxes. Syndicated checkboxes work quite well on sites that have a high rate of new visitors.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Josep and member Kyle ask: what exactly are syndicated checkboxes and can they be implemented into an affiliate site?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Syndicated checkboxes is a feature we introduced a few months ago. It enables an affiliate to put our checkboxes directly on their webpage; in effect duplicating the zmedia.com website in miniature. Thanks to some original Javascript, web users can subscribe without leaving the affiliates site, nor even seeing a popup window.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Spencer asks: On the syndicated checkboxes: How often do you plan on rotating them? I know that I get a lot of visitors either who have been to my site or similar sites, so I lose a lot of money that way. I seem to remember reading in an email from you guys were working on some new stuff not too long ago.

VIP-Alan-Z Media
The Javascript to use Syndicated Checkboxes is available within our program, under the heading "Keep the Traffic."

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Josep asks: what conversion ratio is common in your industry?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Hi Josep: conversion ratio of subscribers to visitors (or leads to clicks) is 10 to 20%, on the zmedia.com website. Syndicated checkboxes naturally have a much higher conversion ratio of leads to impressions (I don't have the number on me).

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(3) Moderator: Alan, what type of sites make the most $ with your program?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Greeting card sites are one stand-out, but generally speaking, there is a wide range of types of websites that succeed. The key question is, "How well has the affiliate promoted his/her site?"

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(4) Moderator: Alan, How much do your top earners make per month?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
The record is about $40,000 in one month.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Arn asks: what about syndicated vs links? Any notable difference in earnings?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Arn: syndicated is pretty comparable to links. I know of one example where an affiliate earned $2 CPM using syndicated; which would be a strong banner or link performance. The main adv. of syndicated is the fact that users never leave your site, which adds quite a bit of value according to feedback we've received.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Kyle asks: a side question quickly...where do affiliate login! Can't seem to find where I can login

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Josep: our minimum check is $25, except that in your 1st month, you can get a check for $5. Also, you can raise the minimum if you are so inclined. We promise to pay within 30 days of end-of-month. So far, we've typically paid about 10 days after the end of the month.

VIP-Alan-Z Media
I should add that foreign payments tend to go out later.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(5) Moderator: Alan, what common trait or traits do these top earners have in common?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
A keen understanding of guerilla marketing on the Internet. Devotion to their sites.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Kyle asks: do you automatically send out a check after $5, the first month?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Kyle: yes, unless you tell us not to, by raising the minimum.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(6) Moderator: Alan, What is your current pay rate?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Our current pay rate is $0.40 per unique person that subscribes at our website, and $0.05 per checkmark in our syndicated checkbox program. High-traffic websites (at least $100 per day in earnings) are often given a higher payout for syndicated checkboxes. Also, we offer a multi-tiering process that enables evangelists to earn by referring new affiliates to us; the current rate is 20% of all referred earnings, tiered infinitely.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Kyle asks: with the checkboxes, is there a stoping point in how many clicked boxes you get paid 5 cents for?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Kyle: nope!

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Arn asks: are you free to customize which checkboxes you have or are their set groupings that you must use?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Arnold: of the checkboxes available for syndication, you are free to customize.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Kyle asks: are the stats in real time?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Kyle: Yes.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Josep asks: But 1 mailing list sign up with syndicated result is only 5 cents?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Josep: yes. But if you feature several lists, the average will be more than one list per user. And if you have limited space, you can maximize your site revenue with careful placement of just one or two checkboxes.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Spencer asks: If we write a program to gather subscribers from our site using a checkbox system, and after that have the page goto a page with your checkboxes on it, is it acceptable to pre-seed their address in the email box, so all they have to do is check the boxes they want and hit "submit"?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Spencer: If you are willing to do such programming, I'd guess that your site has a fair amount of traffic. That being the case, I'd probably want someone at ZM to evaluate the matter personally. Basically, if the spirit of our service is being honored, then we're flexible.

VIP-Alan-Z Media
There are some good techniques: placing our checkboxes or links on a Thank You page is good, also exit consoles work quite well.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Member Joe asks: Any plans to make new checkboxes available for syndication?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
Joe: Of course! :-)

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(8) Moderator: Alan, One final question. Why should people join your program?

VIP-Alan-Z Media
There are several reasons why Z Media may be the right solution for an affiliate: a) High payout. b) Solid foundations: we have direct relationships with public companies such as Lifeminders, Cybergold, and Netcreations; our Board of Directors and investor list includes Peter Thiel, Chairman of X.com; Ryan Adams, a world-class expert on affiliate programs, recently joined us as Director of Marketing. We have a perfect payment record and are here to stay. c) We take care of our affiliates-- I believe we are the most responsive and considerate large program in the market today. d) We are growing, and as we grow, so will the financial opportunities available to our affiliates.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Members, any questions on this?

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
(9) Moderator: Thanks for attending Alan http://geekvillage.com/ubb/smile.gif Members and fellow geeks: This concludes our Moderated VIP geek/chat. Thank you for attending and your valuable support. Complete transcripts of this session will be posted on our BB and site.

Steve_Shubitz/Admin
Moderator: One moment please while I turn off Moderator mode so you can hang around and chat if you are so inclined.

Spencer Uresk
Alan - you may want to create some type of board on your site where affiliates can discuss tips and such. I know a lot of people could be making a ton more if they just had a bit of help capitalizing properly on their traffic

Joe
I have a couple ideas that would make the program better for a few of my friends, but they may not be beneficial to less knowledgable members.